24 



ORXITIIOLOGTST 



[Vol. 12-^0. 2 



THE 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



AND 



OOLOGIST. 



.( MOSriIl.y MAdyiXINK OF 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



KSl'KCIALLY DKVOTKD TO THE STUDY OV 



BIK,I3 S 3 



'rilEin NESTS AM) KGdS. 



nKSKlNEl) AS A MKANS FOR THR INTERCHANCK OF NOTES AND 

 OHSEUVATIONS ON lilliP AND INSECT LIFE. 



F. H. CARPENTER, Managing Editor. 



KEIIOIiOTlI, MAhS. 



J. PAKKKK NOKIJIS, 0.il.>.ni<:il Editor, 



204 S<HiTii Seventh Stkeet. Pmi.ADKi.i'iiiA, I'enn, 



FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher. 

 409 Washington St., Boston, Mass. 



Editorial. 



During tlie issue of Vol. XI the Ouni- 

 TiiOLOGisT AND OoLOGiST luis been out- 

 s[)oken in nil questions, and we ni;iy have 

 been rather aggressive on some i)oints of 

 discussion, )>ut in no instance have we 

 knowingly accused anyone unjustly, and 

 good evidence has accomi)anied all state- 

 ments. We had laid our course for the 

 coming year, without counting on continu- 

 ing the arguments of the past volume. 

 However, we insert a communication 

 from a prominent member of the A. O. U. 

 for the consideration of our readers. We 

 do not desire undue license for an3'one, 

 neither do we consider the A. O. U. as act- 

 ively op[)()sed to outsiders, but certain 

 effects have been produced by tlint body 

 which may have gone farther than they 

 were intended. 



The scientific Ornithologists of the A. O. 

 U. very frankly tell us that the laws which 

 they enforce, will .ip^jly to, and restrict 

 themselves, as well as the average student. 

 Such explanations seem at first glance to 

 be perfectly right and plausabl(>, and we 



have no doubt that it was intended to be as 

 they assert. Unfortunately it is not. We 

 even doubt if the "prominent members" 

 entertain an idea of being molested by a 

 law which they commend and profess to 

 share in restrictions. The fault may not 

 lie entirely with the scientist. The}' are 

 recognized, and Justly, as entitled to 

 receive a permit from the law makers, but 

 they should not forget tiieir fellows whose 

 reputation does not at i)resent equal their 

 own, but whose moral right to collect is as 

 great. Then when consistent in actions 

 with their statements on paper, we shall 

 find a harmonious feeling and not the caste 

 distinction peculiar to other countries. 

 Here in Massachusetts we have just had an 

 example of what we complain, and the four 

 gentlemen who received permits should 

 insist upon others receiving a like favor, of 

 course using judgment in selections. It 

 would be for their own permanent benefit to 

 consider the matter. Personal!}', we have 

 never received, with one exception, any- 

 thing but courteous treatment and count as 

 friends many of the meml)ers of the A. O. 

 II. and feel indebted for kind offers to 

 the correspf)ndent in this issue. 



Notes on the Nesting of Some of 



the Rarer Birds of Chester 



County, Pa. 



HY THOMAS II. .lACKSON, WEST CHKSTEU, TA. 



Din-'mi;- tlie latter part of May, ISSd, while ex- 

 ploring an extensive swamp within a few miles 

 of West (Jliester, my attention was attracted by 

 a strange, unfamiliar bird note coming from a 

 clump of Calamus that grew in about two feet 

 of water. Pausing a moment to listen foi' the 

 song again, the bird tlew from its biding place 

 to a tree near by, uttering at tlie same time 

 its liarsli, ratthng song. 



In it I recognized tlie I.,ong-hilled Marsli Wren 

 {Tclmalofliitcs pnlustris) a sjx'cies whicli tlioiigh 

 ([uite common in the adjoining (bounty of 

 Delaware, has never I)efore been seen, or its 

 nest found within our limits. 



A furtlier search revealed a numlter of finisli- 

 ed, tliongh unoccupied nests, located in clusters 

 in various parts of the swamp. 



